Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten¹. I am aware Garten is a popular cookbook author and food TV personality. I don’t watch TV (of any kind) so don’t know her. The book’s style is lively and if you are interested in the author, you will probably enjoy reading it.

There was a long wait list to get the book from the library, and when I finally started reading it and doing some research on her recipes, I got sick, in a way that made experimenting in the kitchen out of the question for a while. I am finally better, but also short on time and not yet comfortable in straying far from foods I know I can consume. I had made the recipe below a few times while reading the book, before getting sick and I made it again after I got better, as it belongs to the “safe” category. Adjusting to life happening,I may say.

bunches of daikon radish at the San Rafael farmers’ market
(my favorite are the purple ones)

Spring brings to the farmers’ market ingredients I enjoy using, including red spring onions, spring leeks, purple daikon. I still remember the day, a few years ago, when a farmer at the Temescal market in Oakland, suggested I try purple daikon: it’s become a favorite, both raw and cooked. And as with other root vegetables, its greens are edible, so when you purchase a beautiful bunch like those in the photo below, you get two vegetables.

Beside daikon radish (daikon), as root vegetables I used carrots (carote) and red radishes (ravanelli), plus another favorite vegetable escarole. It a type of endive, slightly bitter, and delightfully so. In the photo above you see the curly variety of escarole. like to use the outer leaves (foglie esterne) in a cooked dish, while I add the inner, tenderer leaves to salads. Using carrots and escarole in the same dish creates a delicious bittersweet combination.³

Sometimes, when unwell, I crave a specific food: I like to interpret this as my body telling me what it needs, so I listen. This time it was baked tofu. I decided to purchase it already prepared, which makes the dish quite quick to prepare, another nice feature when energy is low.

If using only olive oil, the dish is vegan. I like to substitute 1/2 tablespoon of the oil with butter (unsalted), which goes well with the carrots.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Root vegetables and escarole with tofu

Ingredients:

3 ounces / 85 grams carrots
3 ounces purple daikon radishes OR a combination of purple daikon radishes and red radishes
3 ounces / 85 grams escarole leaves
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 ounces red spring onion, clean weight, diced small
¼ teaspoon Harissa spice mix
Leaves from 4-5 thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons / 30 ml hot water
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1 ¾ ounces / 50 grams baked tofu, sliced thin and each slice halved

Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.

Scrub the daikon radishes and red radishes (if using) then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.

Wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch / 2.5 cm strips.

Warm up the olive oil in a 10-inch / 25-cm skillet.

Add the onion, lower the heat and stir, then after 1 minute, add the grated carrot and stir, sprinkle the harissa spice mix, add the thyme, and stir well. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Add the daikon and radishes, if using, to the skillet and stir. Add the hot water and stir, then cover and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the escarole to the skillet, stir well, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring a few times.

Uncover, sprinkle the sea salt and stir.

Distribute the tofu on the vegetables and allow it to warm through, 2 minutes or so. Fold the tofu into the vegetables (as in the top photo) or leave it on the surface (as in the photo below).

Before removing the skillet from the heat, taste to ensure the vegetables are tender to your liking.

Remove from the heat and serve warm.

Serves 2.

You can add more tofu, if you wish. I find the amount given in the recipe a good balance with the vegetables for a side dish (contorno).

¹The book’s page on the author’s website
² The brand of baked tofu I like [this is not a paid link]

Click on the Play button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems]

Cook the Books logo This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Debra of Eliot’s Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

mixed vegetables with thyme / verdure miste al timo

May 31, 2024February 21, 2026 | Simona

jump to Recipe

mixed vegetable with thyme
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge¹. In post-war Paris, a woman is found murdered in the basement of the building where Paul and Julia Child live, and the murder weapon is a knife from Julia’s kitchen. If this brief introduction sounds intriguing, you’ll probably enjoy the book. I’m afraid I didn’t find the novel believable.²

The narrator, a young woman named Tabitha, lives with her grandfather not far from the Childs and befriends Julia. He grows a variety of herbs (erbe aromatiche) in his greenhouse:

There were rows of planters in the dome-shaped room… filled with herbs like tarragon, chervil, rosemary, thyme, basil, and of course, catnip. (dragoncello, cerfoglio, rosmarino, timo, basilico, erba gatta)

Thyme is probably my favorite herb and I use it with abandon, most recently on the first summer vegetables that have made their appearance at the farmers’ market.Usually, I strip the leaves, but sometimes I add the sprigs (rametti) whole, and remove the almost bare stems at the end, before serving. The tenderest ones blend with the vegetables and are undetectable when eating.

Last month, I spent a week in Los Osos, a town on the Central Coast of California, south of Morro Bay. The Monday farmers’ market there is one of my favorite: small, but offering a rich variety of produce. Also, with respect to the markets in Northern California, it was ahead of time in terms of summer vegetables. As a result, while there I ate the first zucchini (zucchine) and tomatoes of the season and even some sweet peppers. I also found glorious bunches of carrots (carote).

bunches of carrots at the Los Osos farmers’ market: irresistible

At the San Rafael farmers’ market, I recently scored the first eggplant (melanzane) of the season and at the Arcata farmers market, I put in my bag a beautiful head of escarole (scarola): it a type of endive, slightly bitter, and delightfully so. I like to use the outer leaves (foglie esterne) cooked with other vegetables, as in the recipe below, while I add the inner, tenderer leaves to salads. Using carrots and escarole in the same dish creates a delicious bittersweet combination.

summer vegetables are here!
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO

The dish is easy to make and cooks fairly quickly. I finish it with some flavorful creamy white miso³ from a local producer. As is, the dish is vegan. You can enrich it with eggs, cheese or, to keep it vegan, nutritional yeast.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Mixed vegetables with thyme

Ingredients:

3 ounces / 85 grams (2) carrots
3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces / 112 grams red spring onion, diced small
1/4 teaspoon Harissa spice mix
A handful of thyme sprigs
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces / 113 grams eggplant (1 small)
2 tablespoons / 30 ml hot water
4 ounces / 113 grams escarole leaves
8 ounces /225 grams zucchini (Black Beauty, Costata Romanesco, Magda, etc.)
1 tablespoon white miso or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste

Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.

Warm up the olive oil in a 10-inch/25-cm deep sauté pan.

Add the onion, lower the heat and stir, then after 1 minute, add the grated carrot and stir. After 2 minutes, sprinkle the harissa spice mix, add the thyme, and stir well. Cook on low heat for another 2 minutes, stirring often.

In the meantime, trim top and bottom of the eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch / 6 mm slices lengthwise, then cut each slice into small dice.

Add the minced garlic to the pan and stir. After 1 minute, add the diced eggplant and stir, then add the water and stir. Cover the pan and cook for 4 minutes, stirring a few times.

Wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1-inch / 2.5 cm strips.

Add the escarole to the pan, stir well, cover and cook for 4 minutes.

In the meantime, trim the zucchini, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.

Add the zucchini, turn up the heat to medium and stir well. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for 4 minutes or so, until the zucchini are just tender.

Uncover, add the white miso and stir until well blended (or sprinkle the sea salt and stir).

Remove from the heat and serve warm.

Serves 3-4.

I have already prepared this dish several times and I see myself doing it often this summer.

¹The book’s page on the publisher’s website
² Review on Kirkus Reviews
³ From Palmer Creek Farm’s Instagram feed: photo of the white miso, made with rice koji and white beans. To learn more about koji, miso, and what Richard Wagner makes, you can read the article I wrote for the North Coast Journal, which peeks from under the containers of miso in the photo.

Click on the Play button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

Cook the Books logo This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Persian herb and greens frittata / frittata persiana di verdure ed erbe

March 15, 2020 | Simona

Persian herb and greens frittata / IMG_3163

green to celebrate spring
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our Cook the Books Club selection this time brings us to Ireland (Irlanda), yet the flavors are those of Iran (whose cuisine we savored also in a recent edition¹). The novel Pomegranate Soup, by Marsha Mehran² (zuppa di melograno), follows the adventures of the three Aminpour sisters, who escape from political turmoil in their native country to the UK and ultimately settle in the small Irish town of Ballinacroagh, where they open a small café serving dishes from their home country.

The novel's cast includes the sisters' landlady, the town's priest, a young man with a passion for astronomy and other colorful characters. The author expertly weaves past events into the present narrative, so that as the story progresses we learn what pushed the sisters to run away from their home.

Marjan, the eldest Aminpour sister, is the main force behind Babylon Café: she watches as many locals come to appreciate the dishes she creates, their appealing aromas and comforting flavors. The book mentions many dishes and includes a recipe at the end of each chapter. I was particularly intrigued by the description of "a good apple khoresh, a stew made from tart apples, chicken and split peas" (page 60 of the hardback edition), but while I was searching for a recipe for that, I read about Kuku Sabzi, a kind of herb frittata traditionally prepared for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year that is celebrated on the spring equinox. I am a lover of greens, so I decided to try this recipe. I read a number of renditions³ and below is a description of what I made.

In terms of greens, I went with what I found fresh at the farmers' market, namely spinach (spinaci) and dill (aneto). Parsley, thyme and lovage (prezzemolo, timo e levistico) come from my garden. The idea is that you can use greens and herbs you like and have available. A different combination means a different flavor, so this is a recipe that can be repeated without becoming boring.

When I tasted the first bite of my rendition, my first reaction was: why have I not tried making this before?

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Persian herb and greens frittata (Kuku Sabzi)

Ingredients:

4 1/2 ounces / 130 g leek, white and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the dark green portion to make broth or stock)
4 tablespoons / 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 bunches / 14 ounces / 400 g fresh spinach
2 cups of finely chopped fresh herbs: in my case mostly dill (thick stems removed), some sprigs of parsley, leaves of a handful of fresh thyme sprigs and 2 sprigs of lovage
5 large eggs from pastured poultry
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Cut the leek in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander, then place in a bowl and fill it with cold water. With your hands, swirl the leek pieces to clean them well, then scoop them out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain them in a colander.

Warm up a 10-inch / 25 cm skillet over medium heat, then add 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of the olive oil. Add the leeks, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Cover the skillet and cook on low heat until the leeks are soft (12-15 minutes), stirring every now and then, making sure nothing burns. Transfer the leeks to a plate and clean the skillet.

Wash the spinach carefully and drain. Discard the roots and thicker stems and chop the rest finely. This is a bit tedious but it makes cooking easier, because the amount of eggs is small with respect to the amount of greens.

chopping herbs finely

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, the salt, pepper, and turmeric. Add the cooked leeks, the chopped spinach and herbs and mix everything well. A silicone spatula works well for this step, which requires patience.

Heat the broiler: if your oven allows it, use the low setting; otherwise, move the oven rack down one level.

Heat again the skillet and pour into it the remaining 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of the olive oil, then swirl to coat. Empty the bowl into the skillet and use the spatula to spread the mixture evenly across. Cover the skillet and cook the frittata on low heat until the bottom is just set: check it after 8 minutes and estimate the remaining cooking time.

Uncover the skillet and broil, watching carefully, until the top is set, 1-2 minutes. Let the frittata cool slightly, then slide it onto a platter and serve.

Serves 4-8

Persian herb and greens frittata / IMG_3158

why have I learned about this dish only now?

The intense green of this dish nicely points at the coming spring season. The flavor is a treat for lovers of greens.

¹ My recent post featuring another Persian-inspired recipe: eggplant and yellow split pea stew
² The book introduction on the author's website
³ Some recipes: on Bon Appetit (with useful video), the Kitchn, the Splendid Table

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

frittata persiana di verdure ed erbe

or launch the frittata persiana di verdure ed erbe audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

This is also my second contribution to the 38th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started 12 years ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

frittata, spinach, dill, parsley, thyme, lovage, eggs, Persian cuisine

carrot sourdough bread / pane al lievito naturale con le carote

June 22, 2015 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

homemade bread with homemade cheese: a winning combination

Eilish Eam, an Irish child alone in the world, survives in London by playing a glass harmonica¹ on the street. Erin Rushton, an American young woman plays the same instrument in concert halls. They are the protagonists of the novel The Glass Harmonica by Louise Marley.²

In 1761, the path of Eilish's life changes dramatically following her meeting with Benjamin Franklin, who lived in London for 16 years between 1757 and 1775. Erin's story is set in 2018. Eilish is deeply attached to a crippled child named Mackie, while Erin has a strong relationship with her twin brother, Charlie, who lost use of his legs due to a genetic disease. Franklin's important presence in Eilish's life is mirrored by that of Gene Berrick in Erin's.

The novel captured my attention from the first pages and held it until the last. It goes back and forth between the two stories, in the meantime describing the worlds in which they are set and a cast of characters that, besides Mackie, Franklin, Charlie and Berrick, includes the inhabitants of the house in Craven Street, London, where Franklin lived, Erin's agent and her mother.

Eilish's worries about surviving end once she moves into the house in Craven Street, where, among other things, she eats buttered bread for breakfast and tea. Erin finds "natural-yeast bread" in her brother's kitchen, a sign that the new treatment he is undergoing with Dr. Berrick includes a healthier diet. So, I decided to create a bread for the two E's of the book (Charlie actually calls his sister simply E).

smiling for the camera

A recipe for Beetroot Sourdough bread in the book How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou and beautiful carrots in my CSA share gave me the idea to create a carrot sourdough loaf enriched with fresh thyme (timo). The amount of starter, root vegetables and flour come from the book. As usual, I substituted 20% of the white wheat flour with whole-wheat flour. The use of a small amount of instant yeast and the process to make and shape the dough come from what I learned at the San Francisco Baking Institute. After using various baking options, I tried a variation of the cast-iron pan baking I read about on The Fresh Loaf site³ and that's the one I recommend.

starter ready to be used

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Carrot sourdough bread

Important: this bread uses sourdough starter (lievito naturale or pasta madre) that requires a bit of advanced planning.

Ingredients:

For the preferment

50 g sourdough starter, refreshed previously, if stored in the refrigerator
100 g water
100 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)

For the carrots

160 g fresh carrots, possibly organic
Leaves of several sprigs of fresh thyme

For the dough

220 g preferment (sourdough starter) prepared in advance with the ingredients listed above
220 ml water at 85 F / 30 C
0.4 g / 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
75 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour
295 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
5 ml extra-virgin olive oil
8 g fine sea salt

Prepare the preferment
10-12 hours before starting to make the bread, prepare the preferment: weigh the ingredients in a container, stir well with a fork, cover and let ferment at room temperature in a draft-free place. (Adjust the timing as needed for your starter and your room temperature so that by the time you start making bread the preferment is bubbly active, as in the photo above.)

Prepare the carrots
Shortly before starting the dough preparation, scrub carrots well and scrape surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate carrots using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.

Add the thyme leaves to the carrots.

Prepare the dough
I start making the bread early in the morning, so I am sure the bread will be baked and thoroughly cooled by dinner time.

In a bowl, mix preferment (sourdough starter), water and instant yeast. The small amount of yeast I use helps keep the leavening process within a predictable time frame in the cool environment of our house.

Add the flours and stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk.

Add carrots, thyme and olive oil and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Sprinkle salt on the surface.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest 5 minutes. In the meantime, oil well a plastic tub with lid where you will transfer the dough when fully mixed.

Wet the spoon (if using it) and mix dough until it is homogeneous.

Transfer the dough to the oiled tub. With wet hands, letter-fold the dough and then flip it to oil the surface. This is your time 0. Cover the tub and let rest for 45 minutes.

This very nice video on The SF Baking Institute website describes and shows a couple of important techniques I apply to bread dough.

Stretching and folding: as Mac says in the video, the stretching part is of fundamental importance in gluten development
Pre-shaping and shaping rounds (useful for later)

The video is not long, but if you don't have time to watch it in its entirety, you can start at 4':30" and watch about 8 minutes until Mac shows how to shape a boule.

A) Stretch and letter-fold the dough in the tub, rotate 90 degrees then stretch and letter-fold again. Flip the dough so it is seam side down.
B) Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.

Repeat A and B two more times, at which point you will be at time 3 hours.

Check gluten development by stretching a corner of the dough to make a windowpane. If you don't get a windowpane, let dough ferment a little longer.

Shape the bread
Lightly flour your working surface and transfer dough onto it. Use a bench scraper to help you move and turn the dough.

Gently pat dough to flatten it into a thick circle and degas. Fold corners of dough towards the center, flip (so it is seam side down) and pre-shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 8'). Move the round towards you, then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring a bit of tension to the dough, but not as much as you will later, during shaping.

Let pre-shaped round rest for 20 minutes, covered (I leave it on the kneading board and cover it with the plastic tub turned upside down).

In the meantime, cut a square of parchment paper (approx. 14-inch / 36 cm long). Lightly oil the bottom of a lidded cast-iron Dutch oven so that the parchment paper does not stick to it. I used my 5-Qt one; a 4.5-Qt one should work as well.

Flip the dough (so it is seam side up) and flatten lightly, then fold corners of dough towards the center. Flip (so it is seam side down) and shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 12'). Move the round towards you then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring tension to the dough, but do not overdo or the surface will tear.

shaped boule

Gently transfer the shaped dough to the center of the prepared parchment paper. Pick up the paper by the corners and transfer to the Dutch oven. Cover (a clean shower cap works well for this) and let dough rest until doubled in size (also, until a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists), in my case about 3 hours, depending on the room temperature.

ready for the oven

Prepare the oven and bake the bread
When the dough is almost ready, preheat the oven to 500 F / 260 C.

Uncover the dough, score the surface according to your preference, lightly mist the dough's surface, place the lid on the Dutch oven and place in the hot oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 475 F / 245 C. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven and lower the temperature to 450 F / 230 C.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes. At this point, check the bread's internal temperature: if it is 210 F / 99 C, it is ready. Otherwise, continue baking for another 2 minutes, then check again.

Carefully extract the bread out of the Dutch oven using the parchment paper flaps to lift it up. Place on a rack to cool. Restrain your desire to go at the bread with your knife: let it cool completely, at least two hours, then slice and feast on it with all your senses.

a little bit sweet and a little bit sour in an elegant balance

In this lovely bread, lightly sweet carrots and lightly tangy sourdough alternate in each bite and thyme adds an aromatic note. Warning: it is hard to stop eating it, especially when paired with cheese.

San Francisco sourdough bread has become a classic:

It was 1849, on an October day … — the exact date is lost in the mist of time — when Isadore Boudin, an experienced French baker, married the ordinary sourdough yeast used by miners of the time with a French-style loaf of bread to create a classic.⁴

My recipe pays a personal tribute to that classic and celebrates the beautiful city that I learned to love many years ago, as an Italian teenager, by watching the TV series The Streets of San Francisco.⁵The special occasion is the 13th installment of the World Culinary ABC⁶ which has brought us to visit the US (Stati Uniti) and which I am hosting.⁶

¹ Wikipedia: glass harmonica
² Google books: The Glass Harmonica
³ Baking in a cast-iron pan without preheat
⁴ A quick history of San Francisco sourdough bread
⁵ The Streets of San Francisco
⁶ The World Culinary ABC kick-off post.

This is my second contribution to the 24th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

I contribute my sourdough bread also to the 13th installment of the Abbecedario culinario mondiale (World Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 27 countries of the world using the alphabet as guide. M like Minneapolis (USA) is hosted by me, Simona of briciole.

The list of recipes contributed to the event and their slide show.

I am sending this bread to the June edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena?.

And to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane al lievito naturale con carote

or launch the pane al lievito naturale con carote audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

bread, homemade bread, sourdough, carrots

[jump to Comments]

pane al lievito naturale con le carote

pane e formaggio fatti in casa: una combinazione vincente

Il pane al lievito naturale di San Francisco è diventato un classico (sourdough letteralmente vuol dire pasta acida):

Un giorno di Ottobre del 1849… Isadore Boudin, esperto panettiere francese, preparò del pane in stile francese lievitato con la pasta acida utilizzata dai cercatori d'oro e così creò un classico.¹

La mia ricetta è un tributo personale a tale classico e celebra la bellissima città che ho imparato ad amare tanti anni fa, quando ancora abitavo in Italia, attraverso i film per la TV Le strade di San Francisco.²L'occasione è la tredicesima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario mondiale che ci ha portato a visitare gli USA e per la quale fungo da ospite.³

adoro le carote

La ricetta per Beetroot Sourdough bread (pane al lievito naturale con barbabietole rosse) nel libro How to Make Bread di Emmanuel Hadjiandreou e delle belle carote nella mia cassettina mi hanno dato l'idea di creare un pane al lievito naturale con carote aromatizzato al timo. Dal libro ho preso le dosi di pasta madre, verdura e farina. Come al solito ho sostituito il 20% della farina bianca con farina integrale. L'utilizzo di un pochino di lievito di birra secco istantaneo e il procedimento per preparare e dare la forma all'impasto fanno parte di quando ho imparato al San Francisco Baking Institute. Dopo aver utilizzato vari modi di cottura, ho provato una variante di quella che utilizza una pentola di ghisa presentata sul sito The Fresh Loaf site³ ed è quella che raccomando.

pronto all'uso

Importante: per questo pane utilizzo della pasta madre quindi occorre pianificare in anticipo.

Ingredienti:

Per la pasta fermentata

50 g pasta madre, rinfrescata in precedenza, se conservata in frigorifero
100 g acqua
100 g farina di grano forte

Per le carote

160 g carote fresche, possibilmente bio
foglie di diversi rametti di timo fresco

Per l'impasto

220 g pasta fermentata preparata in anticipo con gli ingredienti di cui sopra
220 ml acqua at 30 C
0.4 g / 1/8 cucchiaino lievito di birra secco istantaneo
75 g farina integrale per pane
295 g farina di grano forte
5 ml olio extra-virgine di oliva
8 g sale marino fino

Preparare la pasta fermentata
10-12 ore prima di impastare il pane, pesare gli ingredienti per la pasta fermentata in un contenitore, mescolare bene con una forchetta, coprire e far fermentare a temperatura ambiente. Al momento dell'uso la pasta presenta una superficie cosparsa di bollicine.

Preparare le carote
Poco prima di cominciare a impastare, lavare bene le carote e raschiarne la superficie con una lama per rimuovere la pellicina. Grattugiatele con la grattugia a buchi grossi.

Aggiungere le foglie di timo alle carote.

Preparare l'impasto
In una ciotola capiente mescolare la pasta fermentata, l'acqua e il lievito di birra secco istantaneo.

Incorporare le farine. Aggiungere le carote, il timo e l'olio d'oliva e mescolare fino a formare un impasto grossolano. Spargere il sale sulla superficie.

Coprire la ciotola e far riposare l'impasto per 5 minuti. Nel frattempo, oliare un capiente contenitore di plastica con coperchio che userete per la fermentazione.

Mescolare fino ad ottenere un impasto omogeneo. (Se usate un cucchiaio di legno, bagnatelo prima.)

Trasferire l'impasto nel contenitore oliato. Con le mani bagnate, tirare delicatamente l'impasto da un lato e piegarlo verso il lato opposto. Ripetere dall'altra parte, come se piegaste un foglio di carta in terzi per metterlo in una busta. Voltare l'impasto piegato sottosopra. Coprire il contenitore con il suo coperchio e lasciar riposare per 45 minuti.

Questo video sull sito del SF Baking Institute mostra un paio di tecniche importanti:

Tiratura e piegamento
Preformazione e formazione di una boule, o pane rotondo (utile in seguito)

Il video non è lungo ma se non avete tempo di guardarlo tutto, potete cominciare a 4':30" e guardare circa 8 minuti fino a quando Mac forma la boule.

A) Con le mani umide, tirare l'impasto da un lato e piegarlo verso il lato opposto. Ripetere dall'altra parte, come se piegaste un foglio di carta in terzi per metterlo in una busta. Ruotare l'impasto di 90 gradi e ripetere tiratura e piegamento. Rivoltare l'impasto in modo che la piega sia in basso.
B) Coprire e lasciar riposare per 45 minuti.

Ripetere A e B altre due volte. A questo punto il glutine dovrebbe essere ben sviluppato.

Formare il pane
Infarinare leggermente il piano di lavoro e rovesciarci sopra l'impasto.

Spianare leggermente l'impasto a formare un quadrato spesso. Piegare verso il centro gli angoli, rovesciare e su un pezzo di piano senza farina far roteare l'impasto in modo da creare un pochino di tensione in superficie (vedi video a 8').

Corprire con il contenitore rovesciata e far riposare 20 minuti.

Nel frattempo, tagliare un quadrato di carta da forno lungo almeno 36 cm. Ungere leggermente il fondo di una pentola di ghisa tipo Dutch oven . La mia è da 5 quarti (4,75 litri); una da 4,5 quarti (4,25 litri) dovrebbe anche andare bene.

Rovesciare l'impasto e spianarlo leggermente, poi piegare verso il centro gli angoli. Rovesciare su un pezzo di piano senza farina e far roteare l'impasto in modo da creare tensione in superficie (vedi video a 12'), ma senza lacerarla. Muovere l'impasto verso di voi con una leggera rotazione e allo stesso tempo rimboccarlo sotto.

pane al lievito naturale con carote / IMG_3261

pronto per la lievitazione finale

Trasferire l'impasto formato al centro del pezzo di carta da forno, poi raccogliere gli angoli e trasferire il tutto dentro la pentola di ghisa. Coprire e lasciar riposare fino a quando l'impasto sia raddoppiato di volume e una fossetta fatta sulla pasta colla punta del dito persiste. Il tempo necessario dipende dalla temperatura ambiente: nel mio caso, circa 3 ore.

pane al lievito naturale con carote / IMG_3266

pronto per il forno

Preparare il forno e cuocere il pane
Quando l'impasto è quasi pronto, preriscaldare il forno a 260 C.

Scoprire l'impasto, tagliare la superficie a piacere, spruzzarla leggermente di acqua, mettere il coperchio alla pentola di ghisa e infornare.

Abbassare la temperatura a 245 C. Cuocere per 20 minuti. Scoperchiare la pentola di ghisa ed abbassare ulteriormente la temperatura a 230 C.

Cuocere per altri 15 minuti. A questo punto controllare la temperatura interna del pane: se è 99 C, il pane è pronto. Altrimenti, continuare la cottura per altri 2 minuti e controllare di nuovo.

Estrarre il pane dalla pentola di ghisa tirando su gli angoli della carta da forno. Trasferire il pane su una griglia e far raffreddare senza disturbarlo, almeno due ore, poi affettare e gustare.

pane al lievito naturale con carote / IMG_3288

dolcezza e acidità in elegante equilibrio

In questo gustoso pane carote dolci e pasta acida si alternano in ciascun boccone e il timo aggiunge una nota aromatica. Attenzione: è difficile smettere di mangiarlo, soprattutto quando è accompagnato da del buon formaggio.

¹ A quick history of San Francisco sourdough bread (traduzione della citazione mia)
² Wikipedia: Le strade di San Francisco
³ Post inaugurale dell'Abbecedario culinario mondiale
⁴ Baking in a cast-iron pan without preheat

Con questa ricetta partecipo alla tredicesima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario mondiale, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare 27 paesi del mondo usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. M come Minneapolis (Stati Uniti) è ospitata da me, Simona di briciole.

La lista di ricette contribuite all'evento e lo slide show che le mostra.

Mando questo pane anche all'edizione di Giugno di Panissimo un evento mensile creato da Barbara di Bread & Companatico e Sandra di Indovina chi viene a cena?

E anche alla raccolta mensile Sourdough and Yeast di Wisla (in polacco).

pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina / rye bread with thyme flowers and chive blossoms

July 25, 2011 | Simona

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Sarah Addison Allen’s novel Garden Spells. Not unlike a book I discusseda few months ago (Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch), Garden Spells is a fairy tale, and like all good fairy tales, it is a satisfying reading.

My favorite character of the novel is the good fairy, a.k.a. Evanelle. She accepts herself the way she is and also accepts other people the way they are, without trying to change their attitudes, actions or beliefs. What she does is giving them "things they may need" and she does so in the open. There is no hidden meaning in her actions, because she has no idea what specific need the "thing" will answer.

From the garden of the title, Claire, one of the two sisters who are the protagonists of the novel, gets herbs and flowers. She uses them in the preparation of dishes for her catering business and of drinks and preserves. Some of this products are meant to influence the eater/drinker. In this, then, Claire is different from Evanelle.

I am not a gardener, but I have a small space where I conduct experiments with varying degrees of success. Small and irregularly tended as it is, my garden is always a place of magic, though not of spells.

I have a set of foxglow plants (digitale) that are taller than the house^₁, a dark pink sweet pea (pisello odoroso) that is blooming with enthusiasm, sprouting radishes and red Russian kale, leaf lettuce, various members of the allium family, red and purple poppies (papaveri), a number of other culinary herbs (erbe aromatiche)

and chocolate sunflowers (girasoli)

I have never really used flowers in my dishes and reading Garden Spells made me want to perform a small-scale test. As I mentioned in my most recent post, I am trying to become better at using rye flour (farina di segale), which I get as part of my share in a grain CSA. My first rye bread adventure, a few months ago, did not go well, but as I was perusing a recent King Arthur Flour catalog, a recipe caught my attention: Canapé Pumpernickel Bread. I halved the quantities and shaped the dough into a 13-inch baton. I really liked the result: the flavor is complex, the texture rich with whole grains but still smooth.

I thought that this rye bread would lend itself to be enriched with flowers, so I harvested and added the following to the dough: the flowers of three sprigs of my lemon thyme, two chive blossoms and a few flowers of winter savory (santoreggia).

Chive Blossom — ensures you will win an argument. Conveniently, also an antidote for hurt feelings.

flowering lemon thyme

I don't know if thyme flowers have any special power (the Waverley Kitchen Journal at the end of the novel does not include an entry for thyme), but I am officially in love with the bread I made. The flavor of thyme is there and a light hint of onion. I think that next time I will be a bit more daring and increase the quantities.

This is the list of ingredients I used to make the bread. I am reporting the "volume" version, but I actually looked at the "weight" version, converted ounces to grams, then halved the quantities and weighed the ingredients accordingly.

3/4 cup [80 g] whole-grain rye flour (see my previous post)
3/4 cup [90 g] all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur all-purpose flour)
1/2 cup [55 g] whole-wheat flour (I get this also as part of my CSA grain share)
1/2 cup [30 g] large flakes of rye bran that I sift off the stone-ground flour (see my previous post) [note that this is not the same as rye chops, but my approximation using an ingredient I have at hand]
1 tablespoon [14 g] gluten flour
1 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 teaspoons sea salt
3/4 cup [175 ml] lukewarm water
1 1/2 [22.5 ml] tablespoons olive oil
flowers from three springs of lemon thyme, two chive blossoms (florets separated) and a few flowers of winter savory

I followed the instructions as stated in the original recipe, except that I made one baton and let it rise on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I heated the oven to 375 F with an empty baking sheet inside and when the bread was ready to be baked, I sprinkled its surface with a bit of water, moved it with the parchment paper on the hot baking sheet and put it in the oven.

Slices of this rye bread are great served with spreads (like my roasted pepper and almond dip in the top photo) and cheese.

Back to Garden Spells, towards the end of the novel, there is a sentence that I really liked and I hope I won't forget:

When you're happy for yourself, it fills you. When you're happy for someone else, it pours over.

I think the same can be said about sadness. I spent a fair amount of time in my garden during the weekend, trying to focus on small tasks, as a reaction to the pouring over of sadness caused by reading news and watching images coming from Norway. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love Norway, I think that nature-wise it is the most beautiful country in Europe. Many times during my two visits, I felt like I was in a magical kingdom. It is difficult to grasp the reality of such an enchanted place being visited by unspeakable horror. I hope what happened will not change Norway. The country and its people are special and they will always have a special place in my heart.

¹ As Lori Lynn mentions in her comment, foxglove is poisonous. It is very common around here and reseeds itself. I keep it for two reasons: it's a beautiful plant and deer don't like it.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am also contributing this post to the July edition of Healing Foods, the event created and organized by Siri of Cooking with Siri and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that would be me). I chose the theme of the month to be whole grains and whole-grain flours.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina

or launch the pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

rye flour, bread, thyme, chives

chenna al timo / thyme-flavored chenna

January 31, 2010 | Simona

Making panir (or paneer) had been on my wish list for a while. However, a conversation with someone who had made chenna to prepare a dessert, made me curious, and therefore panir-making was delayed in favor chenna-making. As a matter of fact, the two cheeses are very similar, but chenna had two characteristics that made me prefer it: first, I had never tasted it and wanted to; and second, its preparation includes kneading and I wanted to try that too.

Here’s a description of chenna (from this source):

A fresh, unripened cheese used throughout India, although it’s most popular in the eastern part of the country. It is made from cow’s or buffalo’s milk and resembles a cottage cheese that’s been kneaded until it’s closer to the consistency of a light cream cheese. Chenna, which is available in Indian markets, is used primarily in a variety of Bengali desserts.

Chenna, like panir, is a good introductory cheese, since no special ingredient or equipment is required to make it. The coagulating agent can be fresh lemon juice (succo di limone) or citric acid. I used the latter, because I have it among my cheese-making supplies. The photo shows the curds being formed after the addition of the solution of citric acid to the boiling milk.

The source of the recipe I followed is the book Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. I halved the quantities to use half a gallon of milk. Up to a point, the procedure to make panir and chenna is the same. Then, chenna is kneaded and that is really fun, because the “dough” has a soft, velvety consistency and it is a pleasure to handle it.

Since I was not planning to use chenna to make a dessert, I added a bit of fine sea salt to it and also the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh timo (thyme) from my little herb garden, then kneaded for a short period to distribute. Finally, I followed the instructions at the end of the same recipe and shaped the cheese into flat patties (polpettine) and shallow-fried them in an pan with olive oil.

According to the recipe, at the beginning of the kneading period, after 45 minutes of pressing under a 5-lb weight (I used a 2-lb weight, which worked fine, since I had a smaller cheese) the cheese is still warm, but mine was not. In looking around the web, I found the recipe followed by the person who had inspired me: it is in the fascinating book Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi. By searching inside the book, I was able to take a look at the recipe for chenna (on page 315), where I read that the duration of the pressing step varies between 20 and 45 minutes, depending on the amount of milk used. Based on that, yesterday, when I made chenna again, I pressed it for about 25 minutes, after which the cheese was indeed still warm. I then proceeded with the kneading, and could feel that the cheese was softer than before. The photo shows the finished chenna al timo.

From start to finish, the process of making chenna took about one hour. As with other recipes for dairy products, I refer you to the referenced sources for the details.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good photo of the patties, but I have the chenna portrayed above in a covered container in the fridge and will make them again soon. Hopefully, I can get a nice photo to show. In the meantime, believe me when I say that they are really good.

This is my contribution to edition #218 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, now administered by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once and hosted this week by Rachel, The Crispy Cook.

Preview: I am honored to be the host for next week’s edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. Your contributions will be most welcome.

Here is the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

chenna al timo

or launch the chenna al timo audio file [mp3].

timo / thyme

April 18, 2008 | Simona

In Italian we use the same word to refer to thyme, the beloved herb, and to thymus, the lymphoid organ located behind the sternum. I will devote the rest of the post to timo, the herb.

The genus Thymus, family Labiatae, contains many species. I planted two of them in my little herb garden: Lemon Thyme (photo on the left), and German (Winter) Thyme (photo on the right). I also have some Silver Thyme in a big pot in front of the house: its leaves have a silver rim. I love thyme and I use its tiny fragrant leaves often. They are precious little things, with an enormous power to impart flavor. I don’t recall my mother ever using thyme in her cooking, so this herb is a relatively new discovery for me.

For this post, I decided to invent something. Last Wednesday evening, I was by myself for dinner, a rather unusual occurrence. Besides foglie di timo (thyme leaves), I wanted to eat a beautiful porro (leek) leftover from a recent purchase at the farmers’ market, and here is what I did. I washed the leek, white and light green part, following Lucy’s method, then sliced it. In the meantime, I warmed up a small frying pan generously sprayed with olive oil. I added the leek slices and the leaves of two sprigs of thyme, then cooked, over medium-low heat, until the leek was soft to my liking, stirring every now and then to avoid sticking. I added some vegetable broth to keep the leek moist¹.

When the leek was ready, I adjusted the salt and sprinkled a few leaves of maggiorana (marjoram), an herb I like a lot as well, which is conveniently planted next to my lemon thyme. While the leek was cooking, I poached an egg, following the instructions on this page (option: No poacher). Poached egg is uovo in camicia (shirt). A few seconds before the egg was ready, I spooned the leek in a bowl, then gently placed the poached egg over the prepared pale green bed and finished off the dish with a tablespoon of parmigiano, freshly grated. I took a quick photo and then enjoyed my creation, especially the bites that got some of the yolk mixed with the leek. I definitely will make this again. Note that I did not use any salt (besides that in the water for poaching the egg), but you can certainly do it, adding it to the leek when it is cooked.

¹ Addendum: I have since made the dish a couple more times and measured a quarter cup of added liquid, 2 tablespoons broth, 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon white wine.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started over two years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and a very kind cook, too. Susan has announced that she will give away a copy of Aliza Green’s “Field Guide to Herbs and Spices” to one of the participants. Thanks Susan! Here is the roundup of WHB #129.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

timo

or launch the timo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

briciole

Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

thyme

root vegetables and escarole with tofu / ortaggi a radice e scarola con tofu

mixed vegetables with thyme / verdure miste al timo

Persian herb and greens frittata / frittata persiana di verdure ed erbe

carrot sourdough bread / pane al lievito naturale con le carote

pane al lievito naturale con le carote

pane di segale ai fiori di timo e di erba cipollina / rye bread with thyme flowers and chive blossoms

chenna al timo / thyme-flavored chenna

timo / thyme